I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to punch and die equipment, and more particularly to a multiple punch and die assembly that is adapted to be installed in a punch press.
II. Description of the Prior Art
A common multipunch often includes as many as ten or more separate punches, each with a corresponding aligned die and often with a stripper located proximate the bottom end of the punch for stripping the work from the punch when the punch is withdrawn. Punches, dies and strippers must be removed at regular intervals for sharpening or replacement. Up to the present this has been a time consuming operation because each time the dies or strippers are removed for cleaning, sharpening, adjustment or replacement, several separate setscrews or fasteners must be individually removed to withdraw the dies or strippers from the punch assembly. See, for example, in Patent EU 396817, FIG. 8. Performing this operation increases the downtime of the punch press. In addition, the multiple fasteners that are required add to the manufacturing cost of the assembly. The applicant of the present application has marketed an axial clamp consisting of eight separate metal shoes that are forced outwardly from the center against the dies to hold them in place, but this product is too expensive and is not suitable for certain applications. Moreover, the retention force cannot be varied to suit the conditions of use and is not uniformly applied over the surface of each die.